Staying injury free, as simple as it sounds, was a contributing factor to the successful fall season for the ASU women’s tennis team.
After injuries plagued parts of last season, the Sun Devils found a way to avoid them this season by focusing on conditioning and remaining dedicated to their injury prevention program, which ASU coach Sheila McInerney calls “prehab rehab.”
“They came back this year in better shape, and they continue to stay in good shape,” McInerney said. “You have to keep them healthy the whole year, and that’s the big thing.”
At the start of the season the Sun Devils did a lot of abdominal work to strengthen their cores. The team also did cardio on the track after practices.
As the competitive season started, the team did less of the cardio work and focused more on the actual practices. McInerney didn’t want to overwork the girls by cramming in weights, cardio and practice every day.
“We try to be smart about how we do it and use our time effectively,” McInerney said. “We never want to underwork, but we don’t want to overwork either.”
Excluding freshman Nicole Smith, who re-tore her anterior cruciate ligament last season, only one player has missed significant time, and it was due to illness rather than injury.
Freshman Jacqueline Cako started the season out with mononucleosis. When she recovered and was healthy, she was a strong player for the Sun Devils.
Cako made it to the semifinals in the 2010 ASU Thunderbird Invitational at ASU on Nov. 6.
McInerney is still careful to make sure Cako doesn’t overdo anything in practice.
“She’s a really hard worker,” McInerney said. “She does a lot extra, and she hasn’t been able to do that. My biggest concern is that she doesn’t do it until she’s 100 percent healthy.”
The Sun Devils played in a total of five tournaments this season, ending their season with the annual Thunderbird Invitational.
ASU senior Kelcy McKenna led the Sun Devils’ successful fall season, winning the singles title at both the Thunderbird Invitational and the Cal Nike Invitational in September.
“I think that Kelcy winning two tournaments was huge for us, and that has motivated us on the team,” ASU senior Micaela Hein said.
Although Hein struggled in singles play this semester, being able to remain on the court was a positive. In past seasons Hein was sidelined with multiple injuries.
“It’s been amazing,” Hein said of being healthy. “I need to be careful and be thankful for being injury free because I’ve been injured a lot.”
The team worked hard this semester, but there are still areas they can work on, McInerney said.
“It’s always a work in progress,” McInerney said. “I don’t think anyone feels she is playing to the maximum right now, which is a good thing because there is room for improvement.”
One of McInerney’s goals for the fall season was to figure out which players to pair up in doubles play. She has tried several different combinations in the tournaments the Sun Devils competed in, but is still uncertain about how the doubles teams will look in the spring.
“That’s the one sticky point,” McInerney said. “We’re not 100 percent sure what we’re going to do with our doubles. That’s never a good thing, but we have some ideas.”
As the Sun Devils enter the winter offseason, they will move the focus back to cardio and core work.
According to NCAA rules, each player is only allowed eight hours of practice per week. McInerney schedules the practices so each player gets individual time with the coaches to work on the technical parts of the game.
With two singles tournament trophies to its name and only one Sun Devil sidelined with an injury, the team looks to be a strong contender in the spring.
Reach the reporter at nklauss@asu.edu
